Mass Effect 3: Unity
by SOLDIER-MS
Summary: The moment he has prepared for since Eden Prime has come. With the Reapers hitting Earth, Shepard must rally an entire galaxy. But on a road that seems destined to fail, Shepard discovers shocking truths about the Reapers and their cycles. NovelisationAU


Disclaimer: I dont own the Mass Effect Franchise

Hi Everyone, I've been reading a few novelisations and AU's in my time on this site, in fact a majority of my stories are AU's featuring OC's and after playing Mass Effect 3 for so long I decided that like so many other fans out there I'd write a novelisation of the final and most controversial game of the series. Now whether you call it an improvement or not is your own opinion but in this story i will include more characters from the series and decisions that I felt were thrown under the rug by Bioware (not to question their competency, I dont know about you but I think like any other company they can make good things and bad things about their products). Those include Shepard's personal history and his Akuze background and how it opposes Cerberus. Corporal Toombs will play a role in the story. Morinth will have a greater role than she did in Mass Effect 3 (most pointless choice in mass Effect 2). But that doesnt mean Samara is dead, I've actually come up with a clever way to bring both these characters in the story.

Now this Shepard is based partly on my own playthrough in the Mass effect series, apart from the bit I added with Morinth. He is a Colonist, Sole Survivor Vanguard. His choices and what kind of person he is will be described in the story. So sit back and enjoy the first big chapter of my first novel sized Mass Effect story (one that at least isnt a crossover lol).

* * *

Unity

Chapter 1: The Arrival

"What are you thinking?"

He looks to his side and smiles at his friend. They are young and carefree, sitting on the grass and looking up at the stars. It had become his favourite pass time since his grandfather passed away. The young boy sighed as he looked back up at the stars. His friend rolled onto her side, grinning as she stroked his arm.

"Come on what are you thinking?" she asked again.

"That you look very pretty under the starlight," He smirked.

"Oh you charmer," she said sarcastically. "Seriously though, what are you thinking? Your so quiet at school and whenever any of my friends ask you out you say, "I should go", don't tell me your afraid of girls," She laughed.

"What I'm thinking is, "I can't wait to get out there." My grandfather was a great writer, he always told me of the story of the Shepard."

"Seriously, he pretty much named his main character after himself," The girl said.

"No, he said he called the Shepard that because… "He was a true Shepard, a Shepard of souls that needed guidance, in time he became Shepard to a whole society of species. Many decisions were ahead of him; none of them were easy and in some cases he had to sacrifice ally, friend and even lovers to reach the point he needed to. But do not mistake the meaning of this story. It is not a tale of sacrifice, but a tale…of hope!" That was always how my grandfather opened the story, he told me it time and time again whenever I asked, and he treated it as if it was real history sometimes. But I realised it was a fairy tale, a story of people so selfless and courageous that they couldn't be real, I mean who would sacrifice themselves for a cause that isn't even their own."

Again he sighed as he raised his hand, pointing at each star as if he was counting them.

"Ever since then I've always wanted to go to space, to see what's out there, to create the possibilities that my grandfather dreamed of and to meet those selfless and heroic people, to be **that **Shepard. Growing up here on Mindoir has been some of the happiest moments of my life, but I want to create more memories in space OUCH!" The boy grimaced as the girl flicked his head.

"Come on, enough stargazing, Jim's having a party at his house, if you really are planning on leaving Mindoir one day then we need to celebrate."

The girl brushed her hair back and stood tall. She smiled down at the young boy as she offered him her hand.

"Don't forget Mindoir though…Shepard," She whispered with but a hint of sadness.

"That's a promise I'll definitely keep," He smiled as he took her hand.

* * *

**Many years later**

He could no longer sleep the way he used to, so Shepard's only break from politics and reporters was fighting his own frustrations. Letting his frustrations out seemed to be the only thing Shepard could do in his free time. He's wasn't delicate enough to make ship models, nor does he have the time to feed fish (causing him to wonder why the hell Cerberus wasted money putting it into the Normandy SR2). Loving a woman was also out of the question at the moment. He slammed his fists into the bag repeatedly, sweat running down his face as his bandaged and dusted hands connected with the object. The post was like iron to the normal touch, but Shepard's fists left dents in the bag and nearly knocked it off its chain.

_"You fight against inevitability, dust struggling against cosmic winds, this seems a victory to you, a star system sacrificed!"_

"_Though I remember a certain Commander who crossed the line all the time when he hunted down Saren!"_

"_Independence over submission, I think we share that you and I!"_

"_Is submission not preferable to extinction?"_

"_There's no redemption for what you've done!"_

Shepard punched the bag once, then twice, his body letting out a blue glow as his anger increased ten fold. He threw his arm forward, punching the bag so hard that it flew off the chain, snapping in half as it hit the wall. Sand spread across the floor, while the blue glow around Shepard's body faded. He let out a sigh as he unwrapped the bandages around his hands. Walking into his bathroom, Shepard splashed his face in water and wiped the sweat away with a towel. He looked at himself in the mirror, tracing his finger across the orange line across his cheek. His scars were healing but on the odd occasion they would pop up again if he was stressed. And lately Shepard had been very stressed.

A year ago, after successfully proving the statement of an assault against a Collector base wrong, Shepard carried out a personal favour to Alliance Admiral Hackett. Infiltrating Batarian space alone, Shepard rescued a deep cover operative by the name of Amanda Kenson. She was the head of what had simply been called "the project". It was a branch of the Alliance that had been studying a Reaper artefact and had discovered an imminent Reaper invasion.

Reapers; Shepard wished he hadn't heard the name. He wished he hadn't discovered their vicious cycle of death and destruction three years ago. This "Reaper war" had claimed the lives of many before it had even started. Shepard had only two requests for the new Normandy, take out the damn fish tank and put up a memorial wall. Unfortunately there were already a few names on that wall. Presley, Shepard's former second officer, Richard Jenkins, an eager rookie Shepard had lost at Eden Prime and Kaidan Alenko, a Sentinel and one of Shepard's closest friends. Most of the original Normandy crew had died when it was blown up, putting even more names on the wall. One odd request Shepard had was for two more names to be added, Nihlus Kyrik and Saren Arterius. Saren had been Shepard's first obstacle in this war, but he had also been the first to at least attempt a stand against the Reapers, he had just lost his way.

"_Goodbye Shepard, and thank you!"_

He could still hear the gunshot that ended Saren's life. Saren had had the courage to kill himself when he realised he was under Reaper control. Shepard wondered whether there was anyone else out there who could resist Indoctrination that way. Amanda Kenson and her team had been completely indoctrinated. They had aimed to sabotage the plan and let the Reapers enter the galaxy through the Alpha Relay. But Shepard managed to break free from their prison and carry out the plan. Unfortunately this plan was to launch a meteor into the Mass relay, destroying it and triggering an explosion that would effectively wipe out the system. Despite Shepard's efforts, there was no time to warn the Batarian colonies. With only seconds left to spare Shepard escaped the project base and took the Alpha relay out of the Bahak system.

"_What the hell happened Shepard?"_

The mission wasn't a success and despite Hacketts words, Shepard knew he hadn't done the right thing. Whatever atrocities the Batarians had committed against humanity, including the murder of Shepard's parents was nothing in comparison to what Shepard had done. 300,000 Batarians dead and Shepard was to blame. It was to stop the Reapers, but it wasn't necessary.

'If only I could have found another way,' Shepard thought.

Grey rings had decorated the gap between Shepard's nose and his brown eyes. His blonde hair was cut in the same short style he had kept it during his suicide mission, the fringe just resting on his forehead. He had shaved recently, leaving his chin and face devoid of hair. Now that he was planet side he was able to get a natural tan, not quite a beach style tan but his skin wasn't pale white as it used to be. Back then Shepard had spent his time constantly on ships or space stations without any natural light. Now Shepard was under house arrest at Alliance headquarters in Vancouver. This was his life now, no more Normandy, no more constant combat. But still the threat of the Reapers hung over his head.

"_We will find another way!"_

"Incoming vid-call," a voice rung through Shepard's quarters.

"Transfer to audio speakers," Shepard said.

"Shepard, how's the prison life suiting you, haven't dropped the soap yet have you?"

Shepard stepped out of his bathroom, his eyebrows twitching in confusion. The voice had an Irish twang to it, but it couldn't have been that man.

"Chris, is that you?" Shepard asked.

"Got it in one Shep," The man chuckled.

Shepard shook his head, grinning as he walked to his bookcase. He opened one of the books, pulling out a photograph. It was his Jump zero biotics class. He'd "graduated" as a Vanguard class, Chris Burnside however had graduated as an Adept and served in a few units with Shepard for a while before Shepard was transferred to the 501st.

"Just found an old picture of you," Shepard said.

"Really? How do I look?" Chris asked.

"You've got a weird smile."

"Its better than your smile," the Irishman laughed.

"No argument there, as for your joke earlier I'm under house arrest, this conversations probably being recorded and monitored," Shepard explained.

"Which means cameras in your room I assume, too bad, now your on Earth there are plenty of women who'd love to have a conjugal visit with humanities most famous soldier, you could have six a month!"

"I don't want six, I want one woman," Shepard sighed.

"Really, what's this one woman like?" Chris asked.

Shepard rubbed his face as he leant against his wall. A smile crossed his face as he remembered rubbing smooth skin, running his hand across the strong frame of a fellow marine.

"Shoulder length brown hair, let out of the bun for those special nights, tanned skin and a body that'll roll you over when she wants to be on top, a voice that's poetic but at the same time wont take sexist crap or doubts, lips perfect for kissing you and dark eyes that see through your bullshit," Shepard explained.

He let out a chuckle as he remembered:

_"That's a new spin for "on the floor and give me twenty""._

"Sounds like she's perfect for you," Chris said.

"She was…anyway why are we talking about me, you only need to read a paper or see a vid to know what's going on in my life, what about you Chris?"

"Classified I'm afraid, its quite an important project, I'm a Major now but as for my personal life before you hit Akuze I was married to this girl Lilith. She was a nice woman but we had too many disagreements…"

"Plus I'm guessing you weren't any good in bed," Shepard interrupted.

Chris sighed before he spoke:

"I'd had an affair with an Asari, it was a stupid, cruel thing to do but I did it, I'm not proud of it Shepard but I'm not guilty enough to admit that the failures were all my own. Lilith hated the Alliance and our stance with the council, as well as what she saw as failures with Eden Prime, Terra Nova and…"

"Mindoir, I know Chris, you don't need to tread lightly around that subject," Shepard sighed.

"Good to know I don't have to watch my mouth when referring to your childhood trauma, anyway after the Alliance joined the council, Lilith moved to Horizon, she was taken by the Collectors…" Chris paused and Shepard knew that the man must have been wiping tears from his eyes. "I know you cant talk about it Shepard, but please be blunt with me, how did all the colonists die?" he asked.

"They were processed, their bodies melted down and used for the construction of…a human Reaper, I saw one of them, a woman banging against the pods the collectors were using. I heard her scream as she was melted down…I'm sorry Chris, if I had gotten there sooner."

"No Shepard, if you got there sooner you obviously wouldn't have been prepared, remember what gunny Ellison taught us? "Be prepared, know what your going up against and make sure all of your team mates are willing and ready to carry out the mission", its not easy but it's the way to go about it that avoids an incident like Akuze," Chris explained.

"Thank you Chris, what about what the reporters say, you don't have any doubts about the truth to my story?" Shepard asked.

"I did, but lets just say that my newest posting has opened my eyes a bit, I'm glad, its much better for me to be a part of this "inner circle" of yours, not part of the ignorant masses living off of your sacrifices."

"Its okay Chris, we're marines, we make the sacrifices so that the people at home don't have to, but we all know things are going to get worse before they get better!" Shepard explained.

"You don't need to tell me that Shepard…I know what a soldier's life comes down to," Chris sighed. "I'd better get going Shepard, you take care of yourself!"

"You too, stay safe out there," Shepard said.

The line went silent as Chris cut off communications. Shepard reached behind his back, taking a data pad off his shelf. He typed in the security code and bought up an image of the squad he led on Akuze. The group of fifty men and women were some of the most dedicated soldiers Shepard had ever led, but he could admit that their skills weren't spectacular. Every one of them had bright careers ahead of them, but they couldn't survive the surprise attack from the Thresher Maws. Shepard still had nightmares about those creatures, massive worm like beasts that could survive in space. Pressing a button, Shepard skipped to his next squad, the squad he missed the most. Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko was a gifted biotic and a good man. He had been Shepard's closest friend on the SSV Normandy. But alas Kaidan gave his life defending a nuclear bomb on Virmire. He was one of the first to die in this Reaper war. Urdnot Wrex was another ally Shepard valued, not only for his prowess in combat but his remarkable intelligence for a Krogan. Wrex had allowed Shepard to destroy a cure for the Genophage, a cure that Saren had planned to use to manipulate the Krogan. Now Wrex led his own clan on Tuchanka and was steadily uniting the Krogan people.

That bought Shepard to his other three-squad mates, Liara, Garrus and Tali. He slid the first photo away and focused on the team he led against the Collectors, the Reaper modified Protheans. Shepard admitted that leading the suicide squad was a difficult task; more often than not he had punched at the bag in frustration from every little incident the colliding personalities caused.

"_TOUCH ME AND I WILL SMEAR THE WALL WITH YOU BITCH!"_

"_Cerberus had nothing to do with that, though clearly you're a mistake that needs rectifying!"_

"_ENOUGH!"_

_The two women, both stark contrasts of one another turned to their commander. Jack held a firm glare that matched her appearance and personality. She wore combat fatigues and a black vest that covered her tattooed chest. Miranda Lawson calmed herself, keeping her image as a professional Cerberus officer._

"_That's enough both of you, Jack why does Miranda's opinion even matter to you, if she cant see sense then walk away and ignore her. This mission is too important to allow petty distractions to get in our way, your only going to move on if you put the past behind you, including the grudges Jack," Shepard explained._

"_Fuck it, fine Shepard I'll drop it for now, but we aren't through yet," Jack growled as she walked past Shepard._

_Miranda sighed, running a hand through her dark hair._

"_Thank you Shepard, who knows what would have happened if you hadn't shown up," Miranda said._

"_Its okay Miranda, you're both valuable members of this team, I don't want any of my comrades fighting one another," Shepard smiled slightly as he turned to the doorway. But the man paused, turning his slightly to look at Miranda. "Oh and Miranda?"_

"_Yes commander?" Miranda asked, sitting at her desk._

"_If you refer to anyone's life as a mistake again then I will make good on Jack's threat!"_

_Miranda watched Shepard leave, unsure of whether to be frightened or shocked._

Shepard leant his head back, wondering what the two women were up to now. Jack had left the ship when it docked at Omega and Miranda had made her intentions with Cerberus quite clear on the Collector Base.

_"Miranda do not let Shepard destroy the base," the ghostly figure of the Illusive man ordered his best operative._

"_Or what you'll replace me next?" Miranda asked._

"_I gave you an order Miranda," Shepard and Garrus saw an odd glimpse of humanity in the man's eyes, an anger that hadn't been shown in a long time._

"_Consider this my resignation," Miranda said, cutting the line._

_Miranda walked over to Shepard, giving him a grenade. He attached the grenade to the power cell, smiling as he typed in the delay for the grenade's explosion._

Of course Miranda didn't defect to the alliance. She still didn't have faith in the military organisation. Shepard had no idea where she was going, but he made it clear that he held no grudge against her and likewise she made it clear that he could count on her. With the Reapers coming the likelihood of the old gang getting back together was minimal. Tali had returned to the Migrant fleet and with her father dead the balance of power within the admiralty board was uncertain. But the email Daro'Xen sent him indicated that she had found something in Rael'Zorah's research. Whatever it was Shepard knew that the Geth and Quarian's were in considerable danger. Legion returned to the Veil to prepare the Geth for the "old machines" arrival. Grunt went o Tuchanka and was obviously making his name known amongst the clans. Shepard had heard nothing from Thane, he expected to hear nothing from Kasumi but not Thane. But Shepard held nothing against the Drell, after all Thane's Kepral syndrome was a terminal illness, it had probably reached the stage where Thane was incapable of fighting.

_"Why do you come here Shepard?"_

Shepard remembered the calm presence of Samara, her understanding nature. He hadn't earned her loyalty, yet Samara had supported him beyond her oath.

_"This is the best view of the stars," Shepard said, looking at the lights._

"_Kasumi's room has a good view," Samara said._

"_Yeah but she talks too much, and I never know when she's going to try to pick my pocket," Shepard smiled._

_The joke was lost on Samara, but she matched Shepard's gaze all the same._

"_You do not need to apologise Shepard, it was my failing not…"_

"_Don't do that Samara, we were both at fault. I had too much confidence in my resilience and Morinth exploited that," he sighed._

"_She saw that you were lonely Shepard, some part of you wanted the ecstasy she offered," Samara said._

"_Maybe, we can't all have as much self control as you Samara, sometimes I envy you," Shepard looked to Samara, smiling at her._

_Samara got off the floor and walked closer to the window._

"_There are many amongst my people who you would think do not have thousand year life spans. Not all of us take the lessons of our lives to heart," Samara explained, running her hand across the glass. "But when one experiences both a fair share of happiness and regret we have no choice but to adapt and take the lessons of those mistakes with us, till the end of our lives," Samara stopped at the edge of the window and turned to Shepard._

_Shepard got off the floor and walked to Samara's side._

"_When you have returned to Earth I will go back to Asari space. The Reapers are a threat to all of galactic society, but I can not let my daughter go and pretend I owe her victims nothing, she is my mistake to fix," Samara said._

"_Life is never a mistake Samara, it's the choices we make, at some point Morinth chose to be a monster. Yet, some part of me would like to believe that Morinth and the Ardat Yakshi have some part to play, whether it is for the good of Asari society or its downfall I am not certain yet. Alls I do know, alls I believe is that somehow all the choices I've made are leading me to something, that in some way my failures are equally as important as my successes," Shepard explained._

"_Because you learn from them?" Samara asked._

"_That and I believe that the results of those failures will have some benefit, destroying the Alpha relay for one, thousands dead to avoid the Reapers as well as Object Rho's indoctrination of an entire Alliance facility, those failures in some way benefit our awareness of the Reaper threat."_

"_But there is still blood on your hands Shepard," Samara turned to Shepard, her expression blank as she looked him in the eyes._

"_How much blood is on your hands Justicar?" Shepard asked, narrowing his eyes at the Matriarch._

"_More souls than will ever forgive me, I do not pretend it is a simple matter or that…"_

"_It suits everyone I know Samara, you live in a black and white world, my world has been grey ever since Mindoir. My family was killed before my very eyes, when I knew I had biotics I used them to crush the Batarian who killed my parents. He had friends, maybe even family, if there is a heaven I don't think I'll reach it and I'm not ashamed to say it Samara but neither will you," Shepard's voice held an edge of hostility as he turned his back to Samara._

"_I do not need forgiveness or spiritual enlightenment Shepard, though I feel that you only wish for one person to forgive you don't you?" Samara asked._

"_It doesn't matter, in the end the whole galaxy will have much bigger concerns than our body counts," Shepard shrugged his shoulders._

"_Indeed Shepard, I am glad I made that oath Shepard, know that you have more than an ally in me Shepard," Shepard heard the faint form of a smile in Samara's voice._

_That in turn made Shepard smile, he liked it when Samara smiled._

Shepard felt that everyone deserved a little happiness until it was proven otherwise. Morinth deserved death and Shepard hoped everyday that Samara had proven successful in her search. If not for Morinth's victims but for Samara herself, who needed to closure of the issue. While everyone else on the team had closure on the issues that haunted them, only Samara and Zaeed's missions had been failures. Zaeed had jeopardised the lives of the Ashland refinery workers in order to pursue his revenge. Shepard understood the need for revenge better than anyone, but he couldn't let that get in the way of saving innocent lives or in Garrus's case, killing someone who still had good in them.

"Its always possible to change, if your willing to try," Shepard said to himself.

He looked at his Alliance uniform laid across the bed. There was still time left for the galaxy. If they needed to change to stop the Reapers then they would. And Shepard swore to himself that he would ensure the change would be for the self-improvement of the races. Defeating the Reapers would mean nothing if the galaxy didn't have peace afterwards.

'That's the goal, unite the galaxy and end the Reapers cycle once and for all,' Shepard thought as he began dressing into the black uniform.

**Several hours later**

Newly reinstated and promoted Admiral David Anderson sat at his office. He listened to an old friend and a war hero as famous as Anderson himself. Admiral Hackett was the number one man in the Alliance military, the defence committee may have disagreed but every soldier in the alliance was willing to follow Hackett if he gave the order.

"What do we know Admiral?" Anderson asked, getting straight down to the meat of the problem.

"We've lost contact with one of our deep space outposts, all forms of communication outside of the Sol system have gone silent and we've picked up something massive on long range scanners," Hackett explained.

"Is it what Shepard warned us about?"

"There's no other alternative, I've mobilised the fleets," Hackett said.

"I'll notify the committee and prepare the Normandy, Shepard's going to need a ship!"

"Do what you have to Admiral, Hackett out!"

Hackett cut the line and David immediately relayed the message to the defence committee.

"God help us all," he whispered.

In 2157, humanity discovered it was not alone in the galaxy. Decades later they became part of a larger galactic community and enjoyed a time of relative peace. But they discovered that their technological advancements had all been part of the manipulations of a single collective. The Reapers, a group of sentient star ships that carry out a cycle of extinction and destruction every fifty thousand years. One man now serves as the best hope for the galaxy, for the Reapers have returned.

Last night hadn't been a good night of sleep for Shepard. But he still smiled at the scenery of Vancouver. The metropolis was flourishing and the people enjoyed a relative peace. He knew it wouldn't last, but Shepard took a small bit of comfort in the sight of an eight-year-old boy playing "star fighters" on the roof of a building. Shepard turned away from the window as the door opened. A large, well-toned marine walked into the room, giving the commander a salute.

"Commander," he said.

"Your not supposed to call me that James," Shepard sighed.

"Not supposed to salute you either," James shrugged his massive shoulders.

Over the past six months Alliance marine James Vega had been Shepard's guard and his eyes and ears within the alliance. Of course James was just a simple if not gifted marine, he didn't have the resources or even the political smarts to figure out what was going on. In truth James was just as in the dark as Shepard had been, despite not actually being under arrest. James was a career soldier, though he wore a grey alliance shirt that didn't match the black and grey uniforms of the other alliance personnel.

"Defence committee wants to see you," James said.

"Sounds serious, what's it about?" Shepard asked.

"Sure ain't about the hundred punching bags you've been knocking into the wall, they said they needed to speak with you urgently," James explained.

Shepard threw aside the data pad he had been reading and followed James out of the room. As soon as Shepard got out of the room he had to move to dodge an alliance soldier rushing by. Much to Shepard's shock the whole base seemed to be on edge, everyone needed to get somewhere. He spotted a few people standing around, "discreetly" making phone calls to family.

"I don't have time to argue dad, just get mom and the girls and head down to the basement," he heard one marine making a very frantic call.

"Everyone seems to be on edge, any idea what's going on James?" Shepard asked.

"Only that the defence committee's real anxious to see you Commander," James said.

A smile spread across Shepard's face as he spotted a familiar face walking through the crowds. Anderson walked past Vega, grabbing Shepard's hand in a firm handshake.

"Anderson, good to see you back in uniform," Shepard said.

"Politics wasn't for me Shepard, its good to see you too, though you look a little soft around the edges," Anderson patted Shepard's belly as they walked.

"Just getting used to the cooked meals and soft beds, cant say I liked the security cameras though," Shepard stated.

"We'll get it sorted out, right now we need to see the defence committee, we've picked up something massive heading towards Earth and we've lost most of our long range communication," Anderson explained.

Shepard stopped at a flight of stairs, looking at Anderson with an expression of dread. He knew what was going on, but he needed his suspicions confirmed.

"Is it the Reapers?" he asked.

"We don't know," Anderson sighed.

"What else could it be then?"

Anderson motioned for Shepard to follow. They walked down the corridor with a window that overlooked much of Vancouver. Alliance Kodiak shuttles and fighters were darting across the sky, followed slowly by dreadnoughts and frigates. Shepard knew that the top priority of the city's military forces was evacuation right now, but a city wide alert would insight a panic, making the job that much harder.

"If it is the Reapers we aren't ready, not by a long shot, we should have prepared more and unless we're planning to talk the Reapers to death then the committee is a waste of time," Shepard said.

"They're just scared, you know more about the Reapers than any of us, hell you spoke to one then blew the damn thing up. You've seen how they harvest us and what they intend to do to us," Anderson explained.

"Is that why you took away my command, had me sidelined like what happened after Akuze?" Shepard asked.

Anderson stopped, facing Shepard with a frown on his face.

"You know that's not true, when you blew up the Batarian relay thousands of Batarians died…"

"It was either that or let the Reapers walk through our back door!"

"I know that Shepard, and so does the committee, if you were anyone else you would have been given a court-martial and left to rot in the brig," Anderson explained.

"That and your good word," Shepard said.

"Yes Shepard, I trust you and so does the committee, now come on," Anderson turned around, leading Shepard and Vega to the committee's reception and security office.

Even with the people walking around him Shepard could still spot the security teams leaving their posts. The weapon detectors were being abandoned and the office staff were packing up, leaving with armed escorts. Shepard turned to Vega, shaking the man's hand.

"See you around James," Shepard said.

"You too Commander," James hid a smile as he shook the commander's hand.

"Shepard!"

Shepard froze at the familiarity of that voice. He turned, a smile crossing his face as he saw the woman he'd spoken to Chris about. Ashley Williams, she'd gone through an obvious makeover but she was still the woman Shepard remembered. She no longer tied her hair in a knot and her blue suit separated her from most of the other marines. It was then that Shepard spotted the bars on Ashley's shoulders.

"Lieutenant Commander? Congratulations Ash," Shepard said as he walked over.

"Thanks Shepard, sorry I haven't kept you in the loop," Ashley said.

"No problem Ash, its good to see you again!"

Shepard and Ashley both traded smiles as they walked past one another. James walked to Ashley's side, looking between her and the commander.

"You know the Commander?" he asked.

"Yeah, I used to," Ashley said, watching the changed man walk into the committee office.

The defence committee's chamber was a worse atmosphere for Shepard. Unlike the hallways they had just walked through the committee was silent. It was a silence bought on by dread and a sense of fear that Shepard could see in the surrounding alliance personnel.

"What's the situation?" Shepard asked, breaking the silence.

"We were hoping you could tell us," one of the committee members said.

An alliance soldier walked up to Shepard, handing him a data pad. Shepard looked the data over, squeezing the pad slightly. He recognised the readings of dark energy and the biosynthetic signatures as well as the last images taken by the lost alliance outpost. But more importantly Shepard recognised the formation as an attack force that would focus on a single planet.

"You've bought me here to confirm what you already know, the Reapers are here," Shepard said, looking around the room to read the reactions of those present.

They were all facing feelings of dread, denial and shock. Many still weren't willing to believe, but the defence committee knew better.

"How do you suggest we stop them?" one of them asked.

"Stop them? If they're already on their way then they can't be stopped, we need to stand together," Shepard said, looking at the personnel around him.

His words did little to comfort them, but Shepard knew that right now blunt realism was what they needed. There was a time for blind optimism and now wasn't it. The situation was going to get worse.

"We've lost contact with the Luna base," one of the soldiers said.

"How could they get past our defences?"

"Sirs, ma'am we've just received word from Alliance headquarters in London."

Shepard spotted the shocked expression on Anderson's face as the alliance soldier turned on the main view screen. The people in the room collectively gasped at what they saw. Satellites were sending in video footage and photos of the familiar ships while media agencies were showing clips. One clip in particular caught Shepard's attention and confirmed his worst fears. He prayed that he'd never see one Reaper, not three walking across New York together. Then there was that haunting roar, that horrifying sound he heard Sovereign make on Eden Prime, kind of like the Geth synthetic chatter, yet amplified tenfold.

"What do we do?"

Shepard turned away from the screen and looked to the committee, inwardly cursing his situation. Once again he had to be the one in front.

"The only thing we can do, we fight or we die," he said.

The committee members looked amongst themselves, unsure of how to react to Shepard's words. Whatever reaction they had would never come. Everyone in the room looked to the giant window behind the committee. Shepard widened his eyes in horror as he saw a Reaper heading towards the city, its tentacles reaching for the buildings. Another Reaper flew behind it, its tentacles aimed straight at the committee chamber as it roared.

"MOVE!" Shepard yelled.

Shepard and Anderson ran for the door as the Reaper fired a red beam at Alliance headquarters. Alls Shepard could hear was the screams of the alliance personnel. Anderson suddenly pushed him to the ground as the committee's table flew over their heads. Shepard got up off the floor, looking at the Reaper before it fired one more blast. Everything went silent within Shepard's hears as he was thrown into the wall. His vision blurred for a moment and alls he could hear was his own heavy breathing.

_"Remember!"_

"Shepard!"

He bought a hand to his face, rubbing it as he rolled to his front. Shepard looked at the charred body in front of him, having no urge to cringe or throw up. He'd seen worse than this carnage on Akuze.

"Shepard!"

Anderson rushed over to Shepard. Dust and blood had stained both their uniforms, some of the pads of Shepard's shirt had even fallen off. They both walked around the flames and over the dead bodies. Both checked to see if anyone was alive, but as they thought they were the only survivors.

"Here take this and follow me," Anderson said, giving Shepard a pistol.

Shepard took the Predator pistol, checking the weapon over for any damaged. It was in good condition but had limited ammo. Anderson took a pistol off the ground and walked over to the shattered window. Both men looked at Vancouver, or rather the war zone it had become. Anderson took the lead, running down the walkway on the outside of the building. Shepard followed behind and both men jumped over a section of the walkway that had been broken off.

"Williams, this is Anderson are you there?" Anderson pressed a finger against the communication device in his ear.

"Williams here…. got Vega…on our…" the reply was full of static, suggesting that short-range communication was out.

"Damn it, Williams if you can hear me get to the Normandy, come on Shepard," Anderson said.

Shepard ducked as an alliance fighter flew over them. Two Oculi quickly followed it. The orb shaped fighters ganged up on the trident, knocking out its engines and sending it flying into a nearby building. Anderson and Shepard ran across the rooftops, occasionally feeling the shockwaves of explosions. To anyone who wasn't a soldier, the sonic booms would have been like a gust of wind. Shepard jumped over a ventilation duct and followed Anderson to a rooftop overlooking a balcony.

"HUSKS!" Anderson yelled.

They turned their weapons to the wall as the blue, synthetic humans crawled to the nearby rooftop. The shots from their pistols easily killed the Husks. Shepard felt no remorse for the creatures that had once been human. They were called Husks not just because of their outward nature, but because inside they had been robbed of everything that had once made them alive.

"Good to see you haven't forgotten how to fire a gun Shepard," Anderson said.

"Same to you," Shepard chuckled.

"Shit, out of ammo," Anderson cursed.

A blue glow surrounded Shepard as he thrust his hand at one of the Husks. The blue projectile that flew out of his hand struck the Husk, pulling it off the wall and sending it floating into the sky. Shepard clipped the predator to his belt, just in case he and Anderson found any thermal clips. Sliding down the ladder, Shepard's biotics flared as more Husks crawled up to the balcony. Shepard threw his hand forward, created a series of shockwaves that sent the Husks flying into the streets. Hearing a series of grunts behind him, Shepard turned to the source.

"ANDERSON!" he yelled.

Anderson wrestled with a Husk, pulling his head back to avoid the creature's teeth. Just when Shepard was about to step in, Anderson knocked the Husk down and slammed his foot into the thing's neck. The crunch and subsequent flop of the Husk's head confirmed that its neck was broken, and that Anderson was still a hell of a soldier.

"WATCH OUT!" Anderson yelled.

Shepard biotically charged towards Anderson, knocking them both out of the way of the Reaper's beam. The beam blew up the apartment, tearing off the walls and shattering the windows. Letting go of Anderson, Shepard took the lead as they walked into rubble. Much of the front of the apartment was destroyed, but the exit door was still there. Anderson opened the nearby medkit, taking the medi-gel and inserting it into his Omni-tool. Shepard half opened the door, but quickly pulled his head back as a Husk lunged at him. Biotically charging his fist, Shepard punched the Husk, breaking its neck.

"Anderson, this way," Shepard said.

Anderson slipped underneath Shepard, crawling underneath the rubble that blocked the door. Shepard was about to follow when he heard something coming from the ventilation duct. Kneeling in front of the vent, Shepard looked into it to see the boy he'd been watching before the attack. The boy was on all four, looking at the image behind Shepard in fear.

"Everyone's dying," he said.

"Come on, I can get you out of here," Shepard said.

He offered the boy his hand, but he backed away.

"You can't help me," he whispered.

"Shepard over here," Shepard turned his head, seeing Anderson waiting at the door.

"Hold on Anderson I…" Shepard paused, seeing that the boy was gone.

"Shepard come on!"

Shepard turned away from the vent and followed Anderson out of the apartment. Anderson groaned as he pushed aside several pieces of rubble.

"What a god damned mess," he growled. "We knew they were coming, but they just swept through our defences, every moment we waste here thousands of innocent people die, millions, and that's not the worst of it," Anderson sighed as he finished his runt.

Much of the floor had been taken out, leaving only a black abyss. This meant that Shepard and Anderson had to hug the wall as they shimmied across to the other side.

"Pretty soon the fighting's going to be everywhere," Shepard said.

"Exactly, we need to get to the citadel, you're a council Spectre and they owe us for sacrificing our ships to save them," Anderson explained. "Careful!" Anderson grabbed the front of Shepard's shirt, pushing him against the wall as he stumbled.

"Thanks, I owe you one," Shepard muttered.

"More than one," Anderson added.

When they reached the other side they immediately began restocking on the abandoned thermal clips. The mantis rifle they originally belonged to was crushed underneath rubble, along with the man that would have used it. Just one of many that would die facing the Reapers. Shepard breathed in the fresh air and promptly followed Anderson outside of the building.

"Anderson this is Williams, Vega and I have reached the Normandy," Ashley said over the radio.

"Communications is back up, Williams tell Joker to stay in the city until he hears from us, I've got Shepard with me," Anderson explained.

Shepard hated his lack of an Omni-tool or radio but loved the fact that Ashley could look after herself. That meant that he could focus on the problems in front of him.

"Oh my god, they're trying to take out that dreadnought," Ashley gasped.

Anderson and Shepard watched in horror as a Reaper fired its ordinance on an Alliance ship. The ship exploded, generating a shockwave that took out the platform they were standing on. Shepard felt his muscles scream as he and Anderson slid down to the harbour and the shot down remains of an alliance gunship.

"Anderson are you all right?" Shepard asked as he got off the floor.

"Fine Shepard, come on lets see if we can help," Anderson said, rushing to two surviving crewmembers.

"What happened here?" Shepard asked, crouching beside the two soldiers.

"Our gunship was shot down, we tried to get away but the platform fell on Foley's foot," the pilot explained.

"All right, you two slide him out of there," Shepard patted his hands together as he grabbed the edges of the pillar.

With a heave, Shepard yelled as he picked up the pillar. Anderson and the pilot quickly moved the wounded soldier away from the pillar, allowing Shepard to drop his load.

"You two stay here and wait for Alliance pick up," Anderson said, taking his pistol off his belt as he followed Shepard across the water.

The water was shallow, allowing the two men to wade through it and onto a platform the ship had crashed on. Walking around the rubble, Shepard held his hand up, causing Anderson to stop. He poked his head out of cover, staring at the sight before him in shock.

"That's new," Shepard muttered.

"What is it?" Anderson asked.

Anderson moved to Shepard's side, getting a good look at the horrendous sight before them. A group of Husks were piled on top of a single Husks corpse, but the Husks weren't like the ones Shepard had seen before. So far Shepard had seen only human husks, because so far the Reapers had only been interested in humans. The Collectors were discovered to be the Prothean equivalent of Husks and now Shepard and Anderson looked upon the Batarian equivalents. An image of the four eyes humanoids flashed before Shepard's eyes. These "Canniballs" had the basic facial appearance of the Batarians, but their mouths expanded with every bite they took. Their bodies also had numerous wires and tumours, while cannons of some kind had replaced their hands. They suddenly turned to the two soldiers, licking the synthetic blood off of their mouths. Without a second's hesitation, Anderson and Shepard both fired on the Cannibals.

"They have long range weapons, Shepard give me some cover while I reach the radio," Anderson said.

Shepard nodded his head, moving out of cover as he charged towards the Cannibals. The force of the charge knocked one of the Cannibals back. Passing his barrier into his hand, Shepard jumped and slammed his fist into the ground. The Nova knocked the Cannibals to the ground, giving Shepard the perfect shots at their heads. Anderson ran out of cover, shooting two Cannibals in his way. He ducked for cover, barely dodging a Cannibal's gunfire. Shepard looked down the sight of his pistol, firing a well-placed shot between the Cannibal's eyes. Anderson then jumped over cover and went for the radio by the remains of the crashed gunship. Shepard put his pistol on his side and picked up an abandoned Avenger rifle.

"Normandy, this is Admiral Anderson, I've activated the transponder of a crashed airship, Shepard and I are in need of immediate pick up," Anderson explained.

"We're on our way sir," Ashley said.

Anderson stepped away from the radio, sighing as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. He nodded to Shepard, who nodded back. Suddenly, a series of pods landed at the harbour. Shepard and Anderson turned their guns in the direction the pods had landed, shooting at the Cannibals that emerged from the smoke. Anderson fired a concussive round from his pistol, knocking a cannibal back. Shepard fired multiple bursts from his rifle, bringing down one husk after another. He ducked for cover, concentrating on his biotics. The blue energy sparked in his hand, but it wouldn't be enough. Alls Shepard could muster was two biotic pulls, hitting two cannibals and sending them floating over the river. Anderson ejected a thermal clip, shaking his head at Shepard. With the admiral out of ammo, Shepard moved out of cover and emptied the last clip of his rifle.

"Damn it, where's that pick up?" Shepard asked, throwing his empty weapon aside.

"Sorry we're late gentleman," a familiar voice spoke over the radio.

The Normandy swooped over the harbour, firing a single missile that took out the gathered Cannibals. Shepard looked up at the redesigned Normandy in awe. The vessel was back to having alliance colours and symbols on its hull. But Shepard recognised the voice of Joker over the radio. Even though the Normandy had been improved, its heart and soul were still the same. Shepard and Anderson ran to the Normandy as its cargo hatch opened. Taking a running start, Shepard jumped onto the ramp, between Ashley and a fully armoured Alliance marine.

"Welcome aboard Shepard," Ashley said.

"Shepard," Anderson called out to the ship.

Shepard turned around; stepping back in surprise as he caught an object Anderson threw to him. He looked at the set of dog tags, his dog tags.

"You saw those men down there, they need a leader," Anderson said.

"We're in this together Anderson," Shepard said.

"Exactly, we both have our part, mines here, yours is out there. Go to the Citadel, do whatever it takes to get help, make as many alliances as you can. Rally the forces Shepard and come back here in force," Anderson explained.

Shepard lowered his head slightly before nodding to the admiral.

"I'll be back, you hang on!" he said.

Anderson nodded his head before turning his back and running towards the action. Shepard stood side by side with Ashley on the Normandy, watching as a Reaper crawled onto the harbour. Alliance shuttles landed, picking up as many people as they could. Time seemed to stop as Shepard watched the little boy crawl onto the shuttle. Their eyes locked for a moment before the shuttle door closer. Shepard widened his eyes as the Reaper fired a beam from its eye, destroying the evacuation shuttles. He turned away, shaking his head as the hatch closed. Earth was lost and he needed to gather the forces to reclaim it.

* * *

All across the Sol system, colonies and alliance outposts went dark. The human fleet clashed with the Reapers, in a one sided battle. Explosions had replaced the gentle sight of the stars on Mars. Three men looked at the lights, overcome by the emotions of watching the Reapers take Earth. One of the men lowered his head, turning away from the sight as he crossed his arms. He wore a suit of medium class armour that lacked any Alliance symbols and carried a Kishock rifle on his back. The apparent leader of the group wore blue Alliance heavy armour, complete with the helmet. His eyes drifted to the railings of the platform they stood on.

"There's nothing we can do for Earth now, we need to prepare that data and get Liara off Mars," his Irish accent echoed through the helmet's speakers.

"I know that Chris, but that still doesn't make it any easier," the Sentinel standing beside him said.

The Sentinel wore a Recon hood and black Kestral armour. The lights of his armour glowed a yellow colour as he turned to Chris.

"Liara, Liara do you read me?" Chris asked over the radio.

"The base has been compromised," the Sentinel said.

"We don't know that Magnus," Chris said. "Liara answer me!"

"Chris, thank the goddess, everyone's dead, it must have been an inside job…it's Cerberus!"

Chris turned to his two comrades to see them pointing their guns at one another.

"You heard what the Asari said, its Cerberus," The man in the medium armour said.

"I am not Cerberus, put the weapon down Tora," Magnus growled.

"Both of you stow it, we've got company," Chris said.

Magnus and Tora both lowered their weapons as targeting lasers trailed over their backs.

"This couldn't be a simple war could it?" Tora asked as spiked holographic armour appeared around his body.

"Its Shepard, nothing's ever simple with him," Magnus said, his tech armour covering his chest and shoulders.

"That doesn't mean it won't be fun," Chris smirked underneath his helmet as a biotic barrier surrounded his body.

"TAKE THEM DOWN!" the Cerberus commander yelled.

'Shepard you'd better get here quick, its only right that the person who rediscovered the reapers rediscovers the weapon needed to destroy them!'

Next Chapter 2: Secrets on Mars

* * *

Hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter. This story along with a few others will be my big focus after I've completed my Hunt Storyline and spinoffs. However I might update this fic sooner if the demand is big enough.

The story wont be a word by word recounting of the mass Effect games, though i will use some pieces of dialogue and lines. The missions will be the same, squad members and interactions the same and I'll add squadmates as well. Magnus is a human Sentinel whose design is based on the multiplayer class. Tora is also based on multiplayer, but his role is a surprise (unless you've already figured it out :). Chris is a biotic wearing the same armour design as Kaidan's Mass Effect 3 model, taking a page from Bioware I've based his facial appearence and voice off of actor Michael Faasbender.

Anyway tell me what you thought of the first chapter and if the demand is high enough I'll update it sooner.


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